Strangers in Paradise
by Soul Hunter
Summary: An unlikely visitor drops by the Forgotten City


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STRANGERS IN PARADISE

By Soul Hunter

"Hi Aeris."

The voice echoes far and wide, a chiming resonance that disturbed the deafening silence. Tiny ripples began to undulate over the still waters as the sound waves bounce back from the cliff walls bordering the encapsulated paradise. Thin legs heavily clad with brown calfskin boots crunch on loose gravel as their owner slowly makes her way toward the pool bay.

Her eyes flash a smile, simultaneously with her thin, pinkish lips.

"I bet you never thought you'd see me here."

She continues on her path until the tips of her boots assumed a darker hue after absorbing some moisture from the pool. When the petit figure saw this, she promptly removed them and waded ankle-deep into the serene waters. Closing her eyes, Yuffie drew a sigh of pleasure as the surprisingly warm water began to soothe her bare legs.

"Wow! This sure feels good compared to the chill outside." She remarks in noting the contrast between the warm water and the icy winds blowing just outside of the Forgotten Capital.

Opening her eyes, the young ninja from Wutai focuses once more on the crystal-clear pool.

"Been a while, huh. How's it going?"

Yuffie listens as her voice reverberates through the void, reverting in a series of gentle bellows from the peaceful surroundings. She looks behind momentarily before turning her attention back to the pond.

"Me? Oh, I'm peachy keen, I guess. My father sent me to see the Chocobo Sage, and I just can't head back home without stopping by. I guess…"

She hesitates, as if feeling a deep-rooted shame for the words she almost uttered. A bout of discomfort got the better of Yuffie, which prompted her to step back out of the pool. More crunching sounds permeated through the quiet surroundings as she sat herself on the coarse shore. Folding her legs in front of her, the spunky lass wraps her arms around her knees and presses her face in between them. She remained in this position for a few moments before lifting up her head anew to speak.

"Vincent is kinda cute, you know."

More ripples form on the pool's fluid surface.

"Yeah…" Yuffie giggles. "I kinda have this crush on him. It just sucks to know that he's more than old enough to be my father. But… it doesn't show, right? I mean, he did fall asleep for at least one generation. Kinda like some crappy Rumpel-whoever who slept for a long time and didn't age."

Feeling a slight chill along the back of her neck, Yuffie nonchalantly pulls the elastic band holding her dark brown hair together, allowing them to fall softly on her smooth shoulders. Gathering her locks together on one side of her head, Yuffie again smiles.

"You like it? I thought I'd let my hair grow longer for a change. Maybe it'll dispel the impetuous teenager impression the others have on me. Who knows? Maybe it'll make Vincent notice me."

She pauses.

"Naahhh… fat chance. He's got this thing about this babe… What's her name? Oh yeah, Lucresia. I think she was an old flame of his or something. I really don't know. It just confused me when Red said this Lucresia also happens to be… Sephiroth's… mom…"

Yuffie's eye brows abruptly met upon the mention of the destroyer's name.

"Sephiroth… He's one really messed up dude if I ever saw one."

A dull pain cuts a swath across her chest. Yuffie closes her eyes and groans, her left hand pressing hard against the stem of her rib cage while her right falling on the pouch hanging from her belt. Unwittingly, her fingers wrap around the pouch to feel the round, hard items inside them. As if waking up from a trance, she excitedly reaches in and then pulls out three diminutive spheres. One red, one yellow and one pale green.

"Hey hey! You know what these are?" She enthuses. "These are Master All Materias, the only three in existence. The red one is for summoning, the yellow is for battle commands while the green is for magic. All magic, all summon and all commands. Awesome, huh?"

The ninja pouts, feigning an impression of innocence.

"NO, I did not steal them, okay? Cloud let me keep them after we defeated Sephiroth. I guess he gave it to me as a reward for defeating Ruby Weapon single-handedly." She beams with immense pride.

"Heh, you should have seen the look in Cloud's and Cid's faces after I dug them out of the sand! They can't believe I beat that monster to a pulp all by myself."

Stillness pervades. Yuffie's lips again assumes a pout.

"IT'S TRUE! You should have seen it! I used a triple-mastered summon materia to conjure up these warriors in armored suits and all! And then they attacked Ruby Weapon like crazy, never letting up. At first we weren't really making a dent on his hide then it hit us with his left hand and we were all paralyzed except for Cloud who attacked Ruby but didn't do jack shit and then he was swallowed by this whirlpool in the sand and Cid too and before I knew it I was facing that monster alone! Gosh, Aeris! You should have seen it!"

Silence.

"You should have… seen…"

The façade of thrill slowly transmogrifies to that of contemplation, eventually ending into a state of melancholy.

"You… you should have been there…" Yuffie's voice starts to fade. Her next utterance almost cracked under a sudden strain of bereavement. She promptly tries to clear her throat before opening her mouth once more.

"Aeris… I never… I… never thought it would… you know… hurt…" she said softly, with a slight trace of surprise. 

Her sight inadvertently focused on the small cabin standing not far away, her mind recalling a time which seems not too long ago. A time when she and Tifa were roused from sleep by a despondent Cloud, then led into this place and down a winding, almost transparent staircase that led to an underground facsimile of a lost city. Her heart races, apparently appalled by the series of events flashing in her mind.

A bewildered hero.

A sanguine ancient.

A plummeting blade.

"Heh… how ironic." Yuffie resumes, her voice starting to buckle anew. "Here's me, Materia Hunter Yuffie, the most selfish, most insufferably egocentric person you have probably ever met. Standing here…"

Her bared right forearm runs across her eyes. Traces of tears glistened on it after the act.

"…helplessly admitting to myself that seeing you die was possibly one of the most painful moments in my life…"

Sobs begin to echo softly, accompanied by an abrupt overcast spreading throughout the area. Yuffie subsequently tries to firm up while wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I tried… not to let anyone know about this. I tried not to admit it. I would have taken off after seeing what Sephiroth did to you. I mean, I know… when I joined you guys, I know that I will be embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. The promise of unparalleled glory in our quest to save the planet. 

"Man, you have no idea how empty it all sounded at the moment Cloud carried you in his arms… and brought you out here…"

She heaves a deep breath to clear the weight off her chest. The spirits of the lost land seems to favor her at that moment as a gentle and soothing breeze blows in unison with her lung's first tug. Yuffie perceives a small respite, enabling her to continue talking.

"Cloud knew this, I guess. He almost gave up the chase. I surely thought I'd give up too. But… I didn't. And I didn't know why…"

Another memory crosses her mind. A cockpit filled with people, from the viewpoint of someone who had just walked in after a fit of airsickness.

"When Cloud told us to leave and know what we were fighting for, it was then that I knew why I carried on… why I never left the group…

"All of us had our reasons for coming back. Barret was fighting for Marlene; Red XIII wanted to follow in his father's footsteps; Vincent, though he was already vindicated from his guilt, still felt he had to atone for all the tragedy that transpired…

"And me… I made them believe I was fighting for Wutai. But there was more…"

Her left hand reaches once more into her pouch to draw another pale green orb. It shimmers, almost hypnotically as she stares on it with drenched eyes.

"I wanted to avenge your death."

The orb's radiance resonates. More tears start welling from Yuffie's eyes.

"Sephiroth took more from me than I had thought possible. He…"

She allows another few moments of emotional release, sobbing until her chest can no longer take the pressure. 

"I…"

Despite the knot she's feeling down her throat, Yuffie nevertheless tries to continue.

"I… I miss you… I miss you so much…"

Her moist hands reach back for her dark brown locks, and gathers them again on one side, letting them rest on the smoothly contoured corner of her neck and shoulders.

"I never realized how much I appreciated you… your insistence for me to let my hair grow so that you can someday braid them… your annoying way of reminding me to act like a lady… your sharing your dream of someday finding someone like Cloud…"

Yuffie's lips slowly form a dainty smile despite her sorrowful facia. 

"You're the sister I never had, Aeris. I didn't realize this until later. But I guess no one should be blamed for that but me. All those times, even though we were strangers to each other, you still tried to reach out to me. To all of us. You and your irritatingly sweet ways… I never expected it would get to me. I was just so selfish and obstinate to see how… how you made me feel important…"

Her sincere wonderment is followed by the soothing melody of rustling leaves hanging from the waving branches capitulating to the mild wind. Yuffie clutches her mouth with her left hand, her brows meeting together as if enraptured in some deep contemplation. Pondering on past events that now leave her regretful of the things she didn't do… things she now knows she should have done.

"…I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before, Aeris. I truly wish you can hear me. But even so… I guess nothing takes the place of telling you this in person. I desperately want you to be here… right by my side. As I let you know that… there will always be this emptiness in my heart because you left us."

Reaching back into her pouch, the girl ninja produces again that glowing, verdant orb. She playfully shuffles it on her palm before turning her solemn gaze back to the lagoon.

"This is all that's left of you, Aeris."

The winds abruptly die down.

"This… and the memory I have in here…" she murmurs while resting her hands gently on her chest. "I will always cherish this, I guess. No matter how painful it gets, knowing that you will never be there anymore to laugh, cry, get antsy… or just simply care. I just have to content myself with… just memories… "

Another gentle breeze caressed Yuffie's face. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply, her hair ruffling freely across her face. Somewhere in the deep crevices of her crestfallen spirit, a silent voice resonates, filling her mind with an uncanny yet ultimately revealing cognizance that exudes an unmistakable sense of rightness in her heart.

__

Precious are the memories of friends lost. But priceless is the presence of the living.

"The living…" she ponders. "Cloud… Tifa… Red XIII… Barret… Vincent… Cid… Reeve…"

Lucid images accompanied by vivid emotions flood her suddenly enlightened soul. 

"…Daddy…"

For Yuffie, the perennially self-absorbed warrior lass, this is to be a lesson in sharing, not only of what she has, but more so of what she is. A young girl whose lifetime was spent in the dark channel of single-minded self-seeking has suddenly stumbled on a light at the end of the tunnel. And it couldn't have come at a more opportune time…

"There's still a chance. I… I mustn't make the same mistake twice."

… as the warm, soft wind seems to land a loving kiss on her cheeks.

"…Aeris…?"

Turning briefly, she spots a dainty feather being carried aloft by the breeze. It tumbles helplessly under the wind's commanding presence.

"Tifa and Cloud are back in Nibelheim…"

Yuffie smiles anew, then looks skyward into the clearing heavens. For an instant, she caught a glimpse of what she thought was a resplendent face with long-flowing brown hair and the sweetest smile she has ever laid eyes on. The apparition vanished just as quickly as it appeared. But for the youthful ninja, that fleeting moment was more than enough for her to understand the message, as the hovering feather seems to have decided its course and suddenly darts southward.

"…my next destination…"

The green orb's brilliance pulsates, then slowly begins to fade as the quaint reflection it is casting on the ninja's eyes likewise start to dim. She nods, understanding the silent voice permeating through her heart. And with one final heave, Yuffie hurls the mysterious Holy Materia back into the lagoon.

"Good bye, Aeris. And… thank you…"


End file.
